Lída Baarová
| Lída Baarová | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ludmila Babková 7 September 1914 Prague, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 27 October 2000 (aged 86) Salzburg, Austria |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Years active | 1931-1970 |
| Spouse(s) | Jan Kopecky (1947-1956) Kurt Lundvall (1969-1972) |
Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress and for two years the mistress of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Born in Prague, Baarová studied acting at the city's Conservatory and received her first film role in the Czechoslovak film Pavel Čamrda's Career (Kariéra Pavla Čamrdy) at the age of 17. Her mother sang in a choir and appeared in several theatre plays; her younger sister, Zorka Janů (1921–1946), also became a film actress. In 1934 Baarová left Prague for Berlin after winning a contest at the UFA film studios for a role in the film Barcarole.
In Berlin she made a successful appearance in the film Barcarole (1935), along with the German actor Gustav Fröhlich (1902–1987). She and Fröhlich, meanwhile divorced from the Hungarian opera singer Gitta Alpár, became lovers and starred together in several films. Baarová also performed on stage at the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne. She received several job offers from Hollywood studios. She turned them down under pressure from the Nazi authorities, but later regretted it and claimed to her biographer, Josef Škvorecký: "I could have been as famous as Marlene Dietrich."
After her engagement to Fröhlich, the couple moved to Schwanenwerder island on the outskirts of Berlin, where their house was close to the residence of Minister Joseph Goebbels, a leading member in the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler with a decisive voice in German film production and Nazi cinema. Baarová, still working for the Ufa studios, met him when Goebbels visited Fröhlich's home in 1936. Gradually, they became closer and, under the urging of Goebbels, started a relationship that lasted over two years. Their love affair caused serious complications between Goebbels and his wife Magda. When the minister began to show up in public with his mistress, Magda Goebbels in turn began an affair with Goebbels' state secretary Karl Hanke and eventually asked Hitler for permission to divorce her husband. According to Baarová's own statements, she herself, fearing Goebbels' wounded pride, approached the dictator for help.
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